One of Hardy’s most popular and controversial novels, Return of the Native explores tragedy and romance with a vivacity that is his alone. Young beauty Eustacia Vye longs for the lively city of Paris and, by association, Clym Yeobright, the Egdon Heath native returning from the city’s irresistible glow. Though the two have feelings for one another, Eustacia also harbors an infatuation with her former lover, Damon Wildeve, who is to marry the innocent Thomasin Yeobright. Damon, though about to be married, is still in love with her. Eustacia, hoping it will lead to an escape from Egdon Heath, marries Clym, forever impacting the future of everyone tangled in her romantic web. An intricate and catastrophic tale of love lost, and a masterpiece by a true master of the novel. Featuring an appendix of discussion questions, this Diversion Classics edition is ideal for use in book groups and classrooms. For more classic titles like this, visit www.diversionbooks.com/ebooks/diversion-classics

The Return of The Native

The central figure of this novel is the returning "native", Clym Yeobright, and his love for the beautiful but capricious Eustacia Vye.

As the novel opens, the wild landscape of Edgon Heath broods alone, save for an old man walking home. The old man, Captain Vye, passes a reddleman, Diggory Venn. Diggory is discreetly transporting a distressed young woman. She is Thomasin Yeobright, humiliated that her wedding to Damon Wildeve was halted due to an issue with the marriage licence in a nearby community. The truth is more complicated, though. Wildeve is still infatuated with his former partner, the passionate and mysterious Eustacia Vye, who lives on the heath by circumstance but wants nothing more than to escape it. She lights a bonfire that evening to draw him to her. The fire attracts only minimal attention, since there are bonfires all along the heath to commemorate November 5th. Wildeve correctly interprets her signal, and meets her. When Diggory learns of their liaison, he plans to intervene on Thomasin's behalf. He has long loved her, and though she once rejected his proposal because of his lower status, he is dedicated to ensuring her happiness, even with another man.

'To be loved to madness - such was her great desire' Eustacia Vye criss-crosses the wild Egdon Heath, eager to experience life to the full in her quest for 'music, poetry, passion, war'. She marries Clym Yeobright, native of the heath, but his idealism frustrates her romantic ambitions and her discontent draws others into a tangled web of deceit and unhappiness. Early readers responded to Hardy's 'insatiably observant' descriptions of the heath, a setting that for D. H. Lawrence provided the 'real stuff of tragedy'. For modern readers, the tension between the mythic setting of the heath and the modernity of the characters challenges our freedom to shape the world as we wish; like Eustacia, we may not always be able to live our dreams. This edition has a critically established text based on the manuscript and first edition. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.